# The Examined Self: National Book Festival 2020

Carmen Maria Machado, "In the Dream House: A Memoir" (Graywolf), joins Elizabeth Tallent, "Scratched: A Memoir of Perfectionism" (Harper), in a conversation about their respective memoirs and the experience of delving deep into their pasts to better understand themselves. Machado's memoir is an engrossing and innovative account of a relationship gone bad; Tallent's memoir is equally innovative, dwelling on the ferocious desire for perfection that has shaped her writing as well as her surprising personal life. Moderated by Colleen Shogan, senior vice president and director of the David Rubenstein Center for White House History at the White House Historical Association and vice chair of the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2020
- By: Library Of Congress
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2024697115/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2024697115?play=1)